William louden



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W LOUDBN TRAGK AND TRACK HANGER.

No. 555,321 Patented Feb, 25, 1896.

I I I I lga'eljiwi HEW EGRAMAM. PHOTO-U110, WASNINEYON'. D C

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

W LOUDEN TRACK AND TRACK HANGER.

No. 555,321. Patented Feb. 25-, 1896.

NITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

\VILLIAM LOUDEN, OF FAIRFIELD, IOIVA, ASSIGNOR TO THE LOUDEN MACHINERY COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

TRACK AND TRACK-HANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,321, dated February 25, 1896.

Application filed December 5, 1891. Serial No. 414,155. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IYILLIAM LOUDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tracks and Track-Hangers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to suspended tracks for hay-carriers and hangers for suspending the same; and it consists, first, of a metallic track-rail having an upper vertical web for the attachment of a track-hanger, a lower vertical web for the attachment of a stop-block or knocker, and intermediate horizontally projecting flanges for the wheels of a hay-carrier to run upon, and, second, in the combination of a track-rail having upper and lower webs and intermediate horizontal wheel-supporting flanges with a track-hanger connected to said upper web, and a stop-block attached to the lower web of the rail and adjustable thereon.

As relating to the hanger for suspending the rail,it consists,first, of two inverted- U -shaped members placed face to face and adapted to hang over or to be attached to a suitable supporting device and embrace the upper web of the rail between their lower ends, and means to hold the parts together and in engagement with the rail; also, of a hanger or track-suspending device consisting of two separable members placed face to face, their upper ends being adapted to engage a suitable support and their lower ends to embrace the web of the track-rail, one of the members being provided with an opening or recess in its body and the other with an inwardly-proj ecting lug or loop adapted to enter the recess or opening in the body of the opposite member, and a pin or key to engage said lug or loop and hold the members together and in engagement with the rail.

The invention consists, further, in the details of construction and in the combination of the parts set forth in the specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is aperspective view illustrating my improvement. Fig. 2 is a view of the hanger in elevation. Fig. 3 is a cross-section view of the rail and hanger, the upper end of the hanger being broken away. Figs. 4 and 5 are views illustrating modified forms of the hanger.

In the drawings, A represents the track-rail and B the hanger. The rail is formed with an upper vertical web, C, a lower vertical web, D, and two intermediate horizontal flanges E, one on each side of the vertical web or webs and projecting substantially at right angles therefrom. The flanges E form ways for the carrier-wheels to run upon, while the upper and lower webs are for the connection of the necessary attachments to the track-rail.

The means shown in the drawings for adapting the upper and lower webs for the connection of the attachments are the beads or T- heads F and G, and the track-hanger B is connected to the web by means of inwardly-proj ecting shoulders or flanges b, catching under said bead or T-head F.

His a stop-block which is composed of two parts h, adapted to embrace the lower web, D, and is clamped upon the head Gby means of the bolt h. The upper ends of the parts h are provided with upwardly and inwardly projecting flanges g, which catch over the bead or T-head G, and the stop-block is thus held in rigid engagement with the rail. Byloosening the bolt h the stop-block H may be moved along the web D and secured at any desired point.

There is a great advantage arising from the construction of the track-rail with the lower web, D. Track-rails for hay-carriers have heretofore been made with an upper vertical web for the attachment of suspending means, and horizontally-projecting flanges at the base of said web for the wheels of the carrier to run upon. In this construction of trackrail the stop-block had to be bolted to or clamped upon the base-flanges, or else it had 9 to be secured to the upper web. In the first case it required the drilling of holes in the base-flanges wherever the stop-block was placed, thus requiring extra work in putting up a track,.besides weakening the flanges.

When the stopblock was clamped upon the base-flanges it interfered with the free passage of the carrier-wheels along the track. lVhen it was secured to the upper web the lock mechanism of the carrier had to be eX- tended up above the track to engage the stopblock and the stop-block could notbe slipped along the track without interfering with the track-hangers. All of these difficulties are overcome by my invention. The stop-block is placed in the natural place below the rail to engage the mechanism of the carrier, and can be adjusted along the lower web to any desired point without interfering with the hangers or with the passage of the carrierwheels along the horizontal flanges; and in addition to this the lower web, D, adds strength and symmetry to the track-rail.

The hanger or suspending device 13 is made of two inverted- U -shaped members I, adapted to catch over a rafter-bracket J, which is secured to the rafters K, and when placed face to face are adapted to embrace the upper edge of web 0 between their lower ends, and thus support the rail. The bodies of the members I are fitted with alternate openings 0 and inwardly-projecting lugs L, the lugs L on one member being adapted to enter the opening 0 on the other member. The lugs L are provided with holes M, which, when the members'are placed face to face, will be substantially in alignment, so as to receive the pin N, and thus hold the pieces in engagement with the rail.

The holes in the lugs L should be placed so that when the members are placed face to face with their lower ends embracing the web C they will not be quite in alignment laterally, and then by making the point of the pin N tapering it can be driven into the holes, and thus draw the members together and hold them firmly in engagement with the rail.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 4, looped projections Z are used in place of the lugs L, and are extended far enough laterally to pass through the openings in the opposite part and permit the pin N to pass behind them, and thus hold the members together and in engagement with the track-rail. All that is necessary to convert the form shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 4 is to cut away the portion i behind the holes M.

It is preferable to have a series of lugs or looped projections on each member of the hanger to enter corresponding openings in the other member and to be held together by a pin passing through holes or openings in alignment in the lugs or looped projections, but, if desired, a single lug or loop may be formed on one of the members and arranged to enter an opening in the opposite member, as shown by Fig. 5. The member P is provided with an inwardly-projecting lug or tongue R, having a transverse opening S therein, said lug or tongue being adapted to pass through an opening T in the member Q of the hanger.

After the tongue R is passed through the opening T a key or wedge Uis driven into or through the opening S in said tongue, and the members P and Q are thus firmly held together and securely clamped to the rail.

It will be seen that the members comprising the hanger are located in approximately parallel planes at both ends and throughout a portion of their bodies, and are constructed at their lower ends to engage opposite sides of the track-rail, so that the members may have a sufficient bearing against each other and that each member may be separately placed in position or removed therefrom.

It is evident that the hanger herein described may be'used with atrack-rail having an upper web only, and it is also evident that any kind of a hanger or stopblock adapted to engage the webs of the rail, whether they are made of one or two parts, maybe used with my track-rail having upper and lower webs and intermediate wheel supporting flanges without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

It is preferable to have the upper vertical web, 0, made wide, so as to give strength to the rail and to aiford more room for the wheels of the carrier to escape the hangers and supporting brackets while passing along the track. The lower web, D, is preferably made narrower because it does not require to be as strong as the upper web for the attachment of the stop-block H. Moreover, making it small economizes space and permits the frame of the carrier to be made more compact and therefore cheaper.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A track-rail for hay-carriers having an upper vertical web adapted for connection with suspending means, a lower vertical web adapted for connection with a stop-block or knocker, and intermediate horizontal wheelsupporting flanges, substantially as described.

2. A track-rail having an upper vertical web, a lower vertical web and intermediate horizontal wheel-supporting flanges, in combination with a track-hanger adapted to engage the upper web of the rail, and a stopblock or knocker adapted to be secured to the lower web of the rail and to be adjusted thereon independently of the hanger and of the carrier, substantially as set forth.

3. A metallic track for a hay-carrier, consisting of an upper T-head for connecting suspending means, a lower T-head for connect ing a stop-block or knocker, a deep vertical strengthening-web and intermediate horizontal wheel-supporting flanges for the wheels of a hay-carrier to run upon, substantially as described.

4.. A rail having a vertical web, an upper bead, a lower bead and intermediate horizontally-projecting flanges for a carrier in combination with a hanger adapted to engage the upper bead of the rail, and a stop secured to the lower bead of the rail and adapted to be adjusted thereon independently of the hanger and of the carrier, substantially as set forth.

5. A track-rail having a Vertical web an upper head, a lower head and intermediate flanges for the carrier wheels to run upon, in combination with suspending means adapted to engage the upper head, and a stop-block or knocker having upwardly and inwardly projecting flanges adapted to engage the lower head and to be adjustable thereon, substantially as described.

6. A track-hanger comprising two inverted- U shaped members arranged face to face and adapted to embrace the web of a track-rail between their lower ends, and means for holding the members in engagement with the web of the rail, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a track-rail and a rafter-bracket, of a track-hanger comprising two inverted- U shaped members arranged face to face on said rafter-bracket, the lower ends of said members embracing the rail between them, and means forsecuring the members together, substantially as set forth.

8. A track-hangercomposed of two separable members located in approximately parallel planes, and constructed at their lower ends to engage the opposite sides of a trackrail, one of the members being providedwith a lateral projection and the otherformed with an opening for said projection and a key for holding the members in engagement with the rail, substantially as described.

9. A track-hanger comprising two separa ble members, the lower ends of which are adapted to embrace the edge of a track-rail, said lower ends being approximately in the same Vertical plane with the upper portion of the hanger, the adjacent surfaces of said members being approximately parallel with each other and adapted to engage each other throughout a portion of their length and one of said members being provided with a proj ection and the otherwith an opening for said projection, and a key to enter the projection to secure the members together, substantially as described.

10. A track-hanger comprising two separable members arranged face to face and adapted to embrace the edge of a track-rail between their lower ends, each memberbeing provided with lugs or projections having holes or openin gs in alignment, and a pin or key adapted to pass through said holes or openings, whereby the two members may be held together and in engagement with the track-rail, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM LOUDEN.

lVitnesses:

R. B. LOUDEN, O. J. FULTON. 

